After the Indians scored four runs in the first inning, homers by Ron Pruitt, Paul Dade and Andre Thornton produced an 8-5 victory over the Royals before an opening-day crowd of 52,433. The Royals tied the score with a pair of two-run homers by Freddie Patek and Hal McRae in the second, but Pruitt and Dade hit for the circuit in succession in the Indians' half and Thornton iced the decision with his two-run smash in the fifth. [The Sporting News]

Cleveland Indians 8, Kansas City Royals 5

Game Played on Saturday, April 8, 1978 (Day game) at Cleveland Stadium

Royals 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 5 7 2 Indians 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 x - 8 11 1 Royals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Indians AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Wilson lf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .250 Dade rf 5 1 2 1 0 0 .400 McRae dh 4 1 1 2 0 0 .250 Kuiper 2b 4 1 2 0 0 1 .500 Brett 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .333 Grubb lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .250 Cowens rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Thornton 1b 3 2 1 2 1 2 .333 Hurdle 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Horton dh 4 1 2 1 0 0 .500 Otis cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .250 Blanks ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 .250 Porter c 4 1 1 0 0 0 .250 Bell 3b 4 0 1 2 0 1 .250 Patek ss 3 1 2 3 1 0 .667 Manning cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000 White 2b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Pruitt c 4 1 1 1 0 0 .250 Lahoud ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Garland p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Terrell 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Paxton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Poquette ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Leonard p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Pattin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Gura p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Mingori p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 33 5 7 5 3 3 Totals 36 8 11 7 1 4 Time of Game: 2:18 Attendance: 52,433 Left on Base: Royals 4, Indians 5 DP: Royals 1, Indians 1 Errors: Brett, Patek, Dade Doubles: Otis (1), Patek (1), Bell (1), Horton (1) Triples: Grubb (1) Home Runs: Patek (1), McRae (1), Pruitt (1), Dade (1), Thornton (1) Stolen Bases: Cowens (1), Wilson (1) GIDP: Bell (1) Royals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Leonard L(0-1) 4.1 9 8 5 1 3 3 24 10.38 Pattin 1.1 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.00 Gura 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.00 Mingori 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 0.00 Totals 8 11 8 5 1 4 3 37 Indians IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Garland W(1-0) 6 7 5 5 3 2 2 27 7.50 Paxton SV(1) 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 9 0.00 Totals 9 7 5 5 3 3 2 36 Wild Pitches: Garland (1) Umpires: HP - Russ Goetz, 1B - Joe Brinkman, 2B - Nick Bremigan, 3B - Dale Ford ROYALS 1ST: Wilson grounded out (second to first); McRae flied out to left; Brett singled to right [Brett to second (error by Dade)]; Garland threw a wild pitch [Brett to third]; Cowens walked; Cowens stole second; Hurdle flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Royals 0, Indians 0. INDIANS 1ST: Dade flied out to center; Kuiper singled to right; Grubb popped to shortstop; Thornton walked [Kuiper to second]; Horton singled to right [Kuiper scored, Thornton to third]; Blanks reached on an error by Brett [Thornton scored (unearned) (no RBI), Horton to second]; Bell doubled to center [Horton scored (unearned), Blanks scored (unearned)]; Manning grounded out (shortstop to first); 4 R (1 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Royals 0, Indians 4. ROYALS 2ND: Otis struck out; Porter singled to right; Patek homered [Porter scored]; White flied out to right; Wilson singled to center; Wilson stole second; McRae homered [Wilson scored]; Brett flied out to right; 4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Indians 4. INDIANS 2ND: Pruitt homered; Dade homered; Kuiper was called out on strikes; Grubb popped to shortstop; Thornton was called out on strikes; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Indians 6. ROYALS 3RD: Cowens grounded out (third to first); Hurdle grounded out (second to first); Otis lined to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Indians 6. INDIANS 3RD: Horton doubled to right; Blanks popped to shortstop; Bell struck out; Manning grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 4, Indians 6. ROYALS 4TH: Porter flied out to right; Patek walked; White lined into a double play (shortstop to first) [Patek out at first]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Indians 6. INDIANS 4TH: Pruitt flied out to right; Dade grounded out (third to first); Kuiper lined to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Indians 6. ROYALS 5TH: Wilson struck out; McRae popped to catcher in foul territory; Brett walked; Cowens grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 4, Indians 6. INDIANS 5TH: Grubb tripled to right; Thornton homered [Grubb scored]; Horton flied out to right; Blanks singled to pitcher; PATTIN REPLACED LEONARD (PITCHING); Bell grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Blanks out at second]; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Indians 8. ROYALS 6TH: Hurdle grounded out (shortstop to first); Otis doubled to left; Porter popped to third in foul territory; Patek doubled to left [Otis scored]; LAHOUD BATTED FOR WHITE; Lahoud grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 5, Indians 8. INDIANS 6TH: TERRELL REPLACED LAHOUD (PLAYING 2B); Manning grounded out (second to first); Pruitt popped to shortstop; Dade singled to left; Kuiper singled to right [Dade to third]; GURA REPLACED PATTIN (PITCHING); Grubb flied out to right; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Royals 5, Indians 8. ROYALS 7TH: PAXTON REPLACED GARLAND (PITCHING); Wilson grounded out (shortstop to first); McRae flied out to center; Brett grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 5, Indians 8. INDIANS 7TH: MINGORI REPLACED GURA (PITCHING); Thornton struck out; Horton grounded out (second to first); Blanks grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 5, Indians 8. ROYALS 8TH: Cowens was called out on strikes; Hurdle grounded out (shortstop to first); Otis popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 5, Indians 8. INDIANS 8TH: Bell grounded out (shortstop to first); Manning grounded out (second to first); Pruitt reached on an error by Patek; Dade lined to right; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Royals 5, Indians 8. ROYALS 9TH: Porter popped to shortstop; Patek lined to second; POQUETTE BATTED FOR TERRELL; Poquette grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 5, Indians 8.

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